Singles (1992)

Posted on January 9, 2017

Synopsis: A group of twenty-something friends, most of whom live in the same apartment complex, search for love and success in grunge-era Seattle. (source)

Rating: 6.7/10 (IMDb)

I woke up one Sunday morning, back in the late 90s when I did things like go to church, and caught part of a movie whose title I never knew. As a freshmen in high school, my music world exploded with the assistance of friends. Most of the bands that entered my life stuck around all these years. Grunge music filled up my mixtapes—received and given. And any one of them could have made up the soundtrack to this movie.

Throughout the film, cameos by Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam), Chris Cornell (Soundgarden), and others grace the audience. Hell, even Tim Burton makes an appearance in the movie. It screams 1990s at the top of its lungs, and I guess that’s part of the reason I love it so much. Yet it fails to hold a cult classic status.

Like all movies that I enjoy from the 90s, Singles focuses heavily on twentysomethings having a difficult time being adults, managing relationships, chasing dreams, and falling in love. Specifically falling in love with the right person. Or becoming the right person for the right person.

It took me a few Sundays to watch the movie and to learn its name. You can watch it once or twice and forget about it. But the beauty of this movie is that one day, maybe ten years after you’ve seen it, you’re busy and work and you remember a line or a gag or an entire scene. It doesn’t have to be your favorite movie; it just wants you to get to know it again.